Kuniang Martial Arts Team
The Kuniang Martial Arts (M.A. for abbreviation) Team (姑娘武術組 in Chinese) are a recurring team of enemies in the Strider series, appearing in all versions of the original coin-op as well as its two sequels. They are called the Three Chinese Girls (中国３人娘 in Chinese) in the first game, and Tong Pooh Three Sisters (東風三姉妹 in Chinese) in all later appearances. Out of its three members, Ton Pooh is the most representative of the group, having the most on-screen time in games and guest appearances in other media crossovers. In Strider 2014 the team is called as The Four Winds, now including their mistress named Xi Wang Mu as the fourth member. The sisters often call themselves simply 'The Winds' in-game. Members The Kuniang M.A. Team is a trio of Chinese sisters that offer their services as bounty hunters and assassins. Their strength lies in their hand-to-hand mastery and teamwork, employing perfectly synchronized and graceful movements in their deadly art styles. Their mastery of Chinese martial arts is beyond that of most ordinary people, with their kicks being strong enough to generate a Plasma Whirlwind, a plasma-like arc of energy not dissimilar from the one made by Hiryu's Cypher and is capable of bifurcating ordinary humans. In the 2014 reboot/remake, each sister has their own weapons and signature attack (introduced first in Strider 2), using the plasma generated by their kicks differently, though they also sport techniques shared by all three of them. Tong Pooh *See Tong Pooh. Pei Pooh *See Pei Pooh. Nang Pooh *See Nang Pooh. Sai Pooh Sai Pooh (西風 in Chinese) is the youngest sister of the trinity who is recognized by her blue clothes (purple in the first game) and twin pigtails hairstyle. Her signature attack is a descending flying kick engulfed in plasma energy. She is absent in the Strider 2014, her spot and traits instead of being inherited by a new sister character named Nang Pooh.) Xi Wang Mu The mentor of the Wind Sisters. See Xi Wang Mu. Roles ''Strider'' The Kuniang M.A. Team was contracted by Grandmaster Meio to eliminate Strider Hiryu after his victory over Ouroboros at Kazakh, having placed an immense bounty for his head. Hiryu encounters them as he hacks his way through a Siberian plateau, finally engaging the trio while aboard the Sky Thunder Mk-II, an airship he commandeered in-flight. After defeating them all he confronts Tong Pooh, demanding to be taken to their boss, but Tong Pooh instead calls him a fool and reveals to him the existence of the Flying Battleship Balrog, which Hiryu dismisses as a big toy. ''Strider 2'' The Kuniang M.A. Team once again is a trinity of sisters who provides their deadly martial art skills to use as assassins. When they are not hunting down targets, however, the sisters have a cover job working as entertainers in the "Míng Liàng Acrobatics Troupe" (明亮雑技団 in Chinese), where they perform as acrobats and contortionists. Under orders from Meio, The Kuniang M.A. Team takes part in the terrorist attack on Neo Hong Kong City spearheaded by the Chinese Mafia, with Light Sword Cypher's support. Hiryu confronts them in the high society residential area, on a speedway crowded by flying cars. Jumping from car to car, Hiryu faces the three acrobatic assassins and defeats them at the end. Following Hiryu's destruction of the Emperor Dragon, a defeated Tong Pooh taunts him defiantly with his 'foolishness' in believing he can take on her Lord, and that the whole world (and Hiryu himself) belongs to him. Hiryu coolly retorts that she's the only one that will always be Meio's servants (watchdog in Japanese version), and leaves her behind. ''Strider (2014) In this version the sisters are called The Four Winds. They are a team of freelance bounty hunters with a worldwide reputation. Trained by the mysterious expert martial artist Xi Wang Mu, who is also known as "The One Who Controls the Wind", the three sisters are themselves expert martial arts masters in their own rights, each specializing in different individual styles as well as powerful combination attacks between all three. The sister trinity as well as their mistress work as subordinates of Grandmaster Meio and are specifically tasked with assassination missions. While the three sisters are well-known across the world, no one has seen the team's fourth member (revealed to be Xi Wang Mu), and there are only unconfirmed rumors about the existence of "a martial artists from the same school" in Kazakh City. Before Hiryu's infiltration in Kazakh City, the Winds confronted and slew the twin Striders Kuga and Raiga, having overcome their combined attacks with those of their own. After Hiryu infiltrated the city, the sisters individually confront him at three different points. Pei Pooh fights him first on her own and is defeated, then Nang Pooh, and Pei Pooh joining Nang Pooh to attack him together to no success. Finally, all three sisters fight him (Ton Pooh fights Hiryu first, but the other two sisters intervene after realizing Ton too would be defeated should the duel drag out) in the industry area with their combined strategy, but are still defeated by Hiryu in the end. Later, the sisters' master Xi Wang Mu personally confronts Hiryu at Grandmaster Meio's orders and to avenge her students, but not even her immense strength is enough to stop Hiryu. The team's final fate is left unknown. Other Media Appearances ''Marvel vs. Capcom Ton Pooh in-game appears in the fighting game as one of several "Special Partners", characters which can be called forth during battle to deliver a quick attack and then leave. She attacks with her Plasma Whirlwind kick. ''Namco x Capcom'' Ton Pooh appears as a minor enemy alongside Solo, another fellow bounty hunter working for Meio, and Strider Hien. Ton uses the Back Kick and Somersault Kick as her attacks. She serves Grandmaster Meio and protects the Third Moon. She commands the Nang Pooh soldiers, gray-clothed clones of herself. Since they are merely mindless mooks, they have no dialogue at all. While the other two sisters are not present in the game proper, according to a Japanese site there are remnants in the code that implies they were planned to appear at some point, but were ultimately dropped. ''SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Series'' Ton Pooh appears in two of the three card-themed crossover games. In the second game (Card Fighters 2), she and her sisters appear in the art for a Reaction Card (a type of counter card) named "3 Sisters" (3しまい in Japanese). In the third game (Card Fighters DS), she's an actual character card alongside Hiryu. She's a card of "C" Rarity (common) with no special ability. Interestingly, her card profile states she is the daughter of Meio, but considering the game has a very poor translation, it is likely just an error. ''Street Fighter × All Capcom'' Tong Pooh appears as one of the 500+ character cards found in this crossover mobile phone game. ''Dragon's Dogma Quest'' The three sisters appear as a set of limited promotional cards in the PlayStation Vita port of this Dragon's Dogma spin-off game, in their 2014 artwork. ''Project X Zone 2'' Tong Pooh reappears as a supporting antagonist in Project X Zone 2, working alongside other villains with a single goal in mind: the resurrection of Grandmaster Meio (who is obviously dead at this point). Pei Pooh and Sai Pooh also make a cameo appearance, assisting their sister. Gallery Str_kuniang_team_art.png Tonpooh_art.png 0cbc584db4b1a3304cb3426e2a54e721.gif Str2_saipooh-artwork.png NewStrider_peipooh_model.png NewStrider_tongpooh_model.png NewStrider_nangpooh_model.png NewStrider_Xiwangmu_model.png Str2_kuniang_hairstyles.png Trivia *Kirin, the main protagonist in Strider 's spiritual sequel game Osman/Cannon Dancer, possess a similar ability of Pooh Sisters to create long arcs of energy with his kicks. Category:Video Game Villains Category:Game Bosses Category:Assassins Category:Mercenaries Category:Martial Artists Category:Chopsocky Villains Category:Enforcer Category:Teams Category:Organizations Category:Presumed Deceased Category:Female Category:Fighters Category:Minion Category:Siblings Category:Crossover Villains Category:Pawns Category:Opportunists Category:Protective